Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, VD Satheesan, said on Friday that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan should give up the Home portfolio "in the wake of widespread reports" of alleged torture in police stations coming to light across the state.
Addressing reporters, the senior Congress leader said Vijayan does not deserve to continue as Home Minister, with reports of police torture in custody emerging from every district. He questioned why the Chief Minister was allegedly maintaining a "studied silence" even after numerous complaints of police atrocities.
"The CM has no control over the home department, and the hierarchy in the police force is not functioning," Satheesan alleged. "It has been taken over by a caucus in the Chief Minister’s office." He charged that police stations in the state have been turned into 'gulags' reminiscent of the Stalinist era in the former Soviet Union, where innocents were allegedly tortured to death.
He mentioned a complaint from the family of a CPI(M) worker in Pathanamthitta district, who they claim died from police torture after being framed in a false case by others in his own party.
Regarding the government’s plan to hold a minority meeting in Kochi soon after the Global Ayyappa Sangamam, Satheesan said the government had become "a butt of ridicule" in its final year by organising separate events for different religions. "Let them hold events for each caste and sub-caste. What is the purpose of all these events on the eve of elections? The government should not be turned into a joke," he said.
Satheesan also alleged that the state health department had completely failed to study the reasons behind the spread of amoebic encephalitis in different parts of the state. He claimed that despite 16 people having already died from the disease, the health department was unable to provide an adequate warning to the public. "The department itself is on a ventilator," he alleged.
When asked whether the suspended MLA Rahul Mamkoottathil would attend the assembly session beginning on Monday, Satheesan replied that the KPCC president, Sunny Joseph, would make a decision on it at the appropriate time.
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